Charles
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Costa Rica – San Jose and Central Highlands
Dec 24th
The capital of Costa Rica, San Jose is located in the heart of the Meseta Central or Central Valley. Sitting in the northern region of San Jose province, San Jose lies right in the center of Costa Rica, offering the capital direct access routes to all parts of the country.
San Jose province enjoys mild to moderate temperatures throughout the year, hovering around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, as it has a pleasant climate and temperate weather, making San Jose one of the most populated provinces in Costa Rica. Today thousands of visitors seek out the Central Highlands, where coffee-covered mountains lead into a lush green valley.
North of the province lies the beautiful Parque Nacional Carara, while to the south you can find the lovely Reserva Forestal Los Santos and the amazing Parque Nacional Chirripó. Some other wonderful cities worth visiting in the San Jose area, including San Gerardo de Dota, San Ignacio, Santa Maria de Dota and San Isidro, all these cities having the same thing in common, picturesque natural landscapes.
There are a multitude of organized tours available from San Jose that tourists can find nowadays. Still, for a more special trip, rental cars are the best choice, since they give you the freedom to not only stop and enjoy the wonderful landscape, but also offer you the opportunity to take some extra snapshots and soak up the local flavor. Do keep in mind though that the roads here are sometimes squeezed and having holes in the surface, while in some places smaller vehicles may find it hard to climb hills.
San Jose Downtown
Founded in 1737, San Jose today is a sprawling metropolis. Costa Rica’s capital and the largest city in the country, San Jose is considered to be among the most cosmopolitan cities in Latin America.
Here, you can find not only good accommodations and hotels, but many wonderful museums, bars, restaurants, shopping centers, colorful markets and a fast paced night life.
A bustling city nestled inside a tropical paradise, San Jose sits in the center of the country in the Central Valley and is surrounded by gorgeous untouched cloud forests. Serving as a hub to the rest of the country, San Jose is the prefect place to use as a base camp to tour Costa Rica. With the Juan Santamaria International Airport just 20 minutes from downtown San Jose, there are plenty of tour bus companies based here that run buses throughout Costa Rica.
Downtown San Jose is the busiest part of town. A maze of streets and avenues, here you can find most of the city’s museums as well as a number of hotels and plazas. Plenty of tour companies, restaurants and hotels can also be found here, with the Coca Cola Bus Terminal sitting just north of Central Avenue.
San Jose boasts a world class symphony orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica, performing in the small but splendid Teatro Nacional, which was built in 1897 and offering since then many performances of pride. The intimate and ornate opera house was built in 1897 in response to a famous prima donna who refused to perform if a proper music hall wasn’t built. The Orquesta does not advertise much. The best way to get a schedule is to go to the Theater when you arrive and ask for one.
Since the downtown area is fairly small and is one of the most frequented parts of the city, do keep in mind that you will come across heavy traffic here with lots of noise and congestion. But don’t let this deter you, as this part of the city is the heart of San Jose. The streets and avenues here are usually bustling with pedestrians and traffic, so the best way to explore this area is by foot.
Visit the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design or tour the Jade Museum in the Instituto Nacional de Seguros here. If you have kids, a great place to take them would be to the Simon Bolivar National Zoo on Avenue 11 or the Kids Museum on Calle 4. To get up close and personal with the residents of this city, visit the many local mercados or markets such as the Mercado Central on Avenue Central.
Some of the attractions you can find downtown San Jose:
Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
Paramount’s Great America
Raging Waters
San Jose Flea Market
San José Regional Parks
Winchester Mystery House
Besides sightseeing, there are also a number of language schools in downtown San Jose that can help you speak Spanish fluently. You can attend intensive language classes for up to 5 hours a day, since these classes are very popular and offering good value for money. You can live with a host family that will take care of your boarding and lodging at the same time. This is an excellent way to not only learn Spanish, but also understand the Tico culture more intimately.
Since everything of interest is within a three hour drive of San Jose accommodations in the city are not a problem. Don’t worry about countryside lodgings, as there are plenty of wonderful hotels and hostelries in San Jose City.
Accommodation:
Hotel Capital – located in San Jose downtown, near to the bus stations, in the historical center of the capital, near to banks, museums, casinos, sport books, theaters, and much more. There are 15 Rooms offered, all equipped with TV Cable, Private Bathroom, Hot Water, Fan, Double orthopedic bed
Hotel Kekoldi – is the only hotel with a secluded garden in downtown San Jose. All the rooms are equipped with large private bathrooms with hot water shower, comfortable queen-size beds, telephones, cable TV and safety boxes
Hotel Ritmo del Caribe – offers clean ample rooms with private bath, television and Internet access, private bathrooms, warm water, bar, vacation packages, transfer services, laundry service and credit cards are accepted.
Hotel Santo Tomas – located in San Jose Historical District, it recalls the glorious charm of a coffee plantation home, with beautiful hardwoods, King Louie XV furniture, 14-foot ceilings and handmade tile on the floors
History of Mexico – Spanish Invasion and Post Colonial Period
Dec 24th
Mexican History
Mexico is a country that has a very interesting and rich history. The region that is now known as the Mexican Republic was the home of many developing cultures since the 1800s BC. A considerable number of these cultures have matured into Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations like Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec and Aztec.
These civilizations had developed on this land for thousands of years before the Spanish conquistadores had come there. These peoples had come up with a lot of inventions in various areas, such as building pyramids, astronomy, medicine and they are famous for inventing the wheel. However, the use of the wheel didn’t serve them too many useful applications as they didn’t use animals for labor.
Most applications of the wheel in this area have been used for art and toys. These civilizations are also known for using metallurgy, the major metals being copper, gold and silver. Astronomy was a very important factor for these civilizations and it can be observed that most of the cities had been carefully build according to major astronomical events.
This science was a central factor in developing other manifestations of these cultures, such as religious systems, writing systems, art and even architecture. The civilizations that developed on the Mexican land had quite a consolidated power and successfully managed to co-exist by distributing their influence in matters of trade, politics and technology. Throughout the centuries there have been a lot of other civilizations that competed with these Mexican peoples and at times there was the case of alliances or of war.
The Spanish Invasion
At the beginning of the 16th century, in 1519, the Mexican civilizations were invaded by the Spaniards. The Spanish invaders managed to successively conquer the civilizations by allying themselves with their main enemies. Thus, in 1521 the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan, was conquered with the help of their enemies, the Tlaxcaltecs.
The most important of the early Spanish conquistadores was Hernan Cortes, who invaded the region in 1519 from the coastal city that is today known as Vera Cruz. However, this event does not coincide with the complete conquest of Mexico. There were continuous attacks and wars between the Spanish and the natives that lasted early 2 centuries till Mexico had been entirely conquered. One of the major factors that contributed to the conquest of the Aztec Empire was due to their religious beliefs.
The Aztecs stronglt believed that the universe will fall apart if they didn’t constantly sacrifice thousands of people to their gods. The Aztecs used to get people for the sacrifices from wars with some other smaller civilizations who in at a point in time decided that they didn’t want to be a source of human sacrifice any longer and thus allied with the Spanish troops. At this point the Spanish army has become extremely powerful and succeeded to conquer not only the Aztecs but also the other civilizations.
Another factor that made it easier for the Spanish to conquer Mexico is represented by the plagues and epidemics that had been brought along by the Spaniards. Some of the most lethal diseases that decimated the indigenous populations were smallpox, influenza, bubonic plague, measles and syphilis. It is believed that these deadly diseases took the lives of about 8 million natives in only a few years.
The Post Colonial Period
After the 1521 conquest Mexico became a Spanish colony known as the New Spain. The colonization period lasted till 1810 and the subjugated territories included besides the today Mexican land also territories, such as the Spanish Caribbean islands, the southern part of Central America as far as Costa Rica, the Philippine Islands and a considerable area of what is now a part of the southwestern United States.
In 1807 the French emperor Napoleon I has invaded Spain and put his brother on the throne. This event has considerably weakened the Spanish forces, thus the people in the colonies started to catch a glimpse of the possibility of becoming an independent entity. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was the man who finally declared the Mexican colony’s independence on September 16th 1810 and in the year 1821 the first Mexican Empire was created.
After this important event in Mexico’s history the government encouraged people from other regions to settle in the areas that were scarcely populated under the condition that these people would convert to Catholicism and become Mexican citizens. Another measure that was taken by the new Mexican government was to forbid the slave import.
The first Mexican Republic was formed under the presidency of Guadalupe Victoria and the constitution was very similar to the one in the US. There had been numerous rebellions through out the following decades as some regions wanted to become independent themselves.
The biggest problems appeared in the northern area where some territories had been successively possessed by either Mexico or the US. Texas had been one of the most important territories that wanted to become independent and it finally lead to the Mexican-American War (1846-48) when Mexico was defeated and forced to sell some of the northern territories to the US.
